The True Holder of Shikon
Disclaimer - Don't own Inuyasha.
Chapter 24 - True Answers
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Later on in the evening, Sango lay awake. Her thoughts continually returned to the youkai who sought to ruin everything she was. All he wanted were her powers. At some points, she almost wished that she wasn't the one that Midoriko picked. However, she would never wish such a fate on another. No one else deserved such pain.
This is my responsibility alone. No one else needs to burden themselves with such intense feelings and pain.
What she found difficult to understand was the concept that Midoriko chose her. Why did the priestess not choose someone more like herself? Why did she choose someone completely different? Someone who, up until that moment, had no spiritual power at all?
Perhaps it is because the balance would be tipped? If someone strong, like Kikyou, got the powers, then she would be too powerful to learn any control.
Yet, her thoughts continued to drift through other reasons. She sat up and dug through her bag before pulling out the book that the houshi had given her. It was the closest thing to any type of reference she had.
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Around morning, some hours later, Sango was still awake. She was still reading by firelight.
My research of powers has led me far. I only hope that one day, I can break this barrier around my shelter. At first, all I did was walk around and foolishly try to find a weakness that I knew was not there. Now, however, I must only continue my studies and complete them. Being a hanyou only makes this easier. Youkai power can come in handy sometimes. Anyway, I was recently studying the art of the priestess. Many priestesses have no sacred powers. Some are just so because they were trained. Yet, there are those rare few like Kikyou and possibly one or two like Midoriko. No one has ever matched her power. I figured out a way that a priestess might become nearly as powerful. It is dangerous but it is surely worth the risk.
She felt her heart hammer in her chest. She may just find the answer she had been searching for on the next page. As she turned the page carefully, a small shard fell out.
This is the first successful false shard that I have ever made. If I use this, I can control my dark creations outside the barrier. I feel as though even the word elation could not describe it. My brother may wish me dead but I know that the Buddha let him place this barrier over me. Sooner or later, I will get out. I will never let it come between me and my goals to have the most knowledge. If anything, it is providing me with an excuse to study more. In a way, it is protecting me. However, if I do not find anyone to feed off of, I will die while I still wonder about the miracles that gods and goddesses created. A friend of mine used to tell me that my life continues because they have a need for me. I have a feeling that they wish for me to record data of everything that I have ever studied. The coldness of my brother's emotions will never fade from my mind but I will continue to defy his wishes as long as I am able.
Sango wondered when he would complete those thoughts. She wanted to delve deeper and find her answer. She wanted to know. She turned the page, suddenly feeling her tiredness come to the surface.
In my research, I have found that priestesses and houshi are not much different. They both are granted power to use toward the greater good. However, such power can sway a person from their chosen path. My brother is an example. He began to grow evil after he put this barrier around me. It was as though he began to realize the extent of his power and the effect it had on people. As I learned, balance and neutrality are the most important things in the entire known universe. For every evil person to walk the earth, there is a good person. Whenever a pure soul is born, a tainted one follows. Opposite. The amount of power depends on the balance inside. Insanity and madness must match up with sanity and intelligence. Balance is the secret to power. The purest soul knows her limits. Midoriko may have been very pure, but beneath the shell of righteousness, there was evil lurking. In the shadows of her body, it waited to combine with her purity. When she found equivolence, she found her power.
The taiji-ya could hardly believe what she was reading. Perhaps there was enough darkness within her that Midoriko felt that her full potential powers could be unleashed like never before.
But why would Midoriko choose me and not someone with a lot of darkness? Is it because...I was possibly balanced? I did not have any spiritual powers but if I was balanced, then Midoriko's balance and my own combined...
She sighed and closed the book. Her eyes couldn't take much more. She looked up at the sky and decided that she shouldn't even bother to go to sleep. If she did, she would only be even more tired when she woke up. But it seemed as though everything was against her. She fell asleep within minutes, her arms pillowing her head and her blanket up to her waist.
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Inuyasha noticed that she had been awake and vouched to carry her on his back. Sesshoumaru made no real protest, especially seeing the concern on his little brother's face. He helped put the taiji-ya on the hanyou's back. They set off quite early and walked at a leisure pace. Inuyasha stopped, his nose in the air.
"Do you smell that?" He turned to Sesshoumaru. "It's...blood. Fresh human blood."
"Two miles away, at least." The Taiyoukai narrowed his eyes. "It is not Naraku's doing."
"Nah, probably just some bandits. We don't have time to get involved." The hanyou turned in the opposite direction of the scent at the fork in the road. They walked until Kagome called a halt for lunch. Sango was still asleep on Inuyasha's back. He didn't mind having her there. However, he could tell that she was having a bad dream and that it got worse when she clutched his haori in her fists. He gently set her down when they stopped. He took his red haori off and covered her with it. "When's the ramen gonna be ready?"
"In a little bit, Inuyasha." Kagome said cheerfully. Ramen...again. The most important thing was not that they enjoyed it but that they ate because it was necessary. "How can you eat it and not get tired of it?" She stared at him, expecting him to answer.
"He has an odd sense of tastes. He never gets sick of anything." Sesshoumaru stated; looking at his little sibling.
"Hey!"
"Guys! Be quiet or you'll wake Sango up!" She scolded.
After lunch, Inuyasha put his haori back on then hoisted Sango up onto his back with some help from Sesshoumaru.
"Are you certain that you do not wish for me to carry her?" He asked quietly.
"No, I've got her." The hanyou set a good pace and started them off along the path. Miroku accompanied him at the front, should anything attack them. They were all beginning to wonder when she would wake up. A couple of hours later, the taiji-ya stirred. She opened her eyes to see red and silver.
"Inuyasha?" She asked tiredly. He turned his head and looked at her.
"Hey." His voice was soft and kind of warm. "You've been out for a while."
"How long?" Her grip on him eased a little. "I'm sorry if I burdened you."
"What were you so interested in that would make you pull an all-nighter?" He asked curiously.
"The houshi's notes. I went to his journal for an answer." He said nothing for a long moment.
"Did you find it?" She rested her head against his shoulder and nodded.
"He had the knowledge to answer it. Though I knew the answer would be complicated, I had to find it." She sighed heavily. His grip on her legs tightened. She felt comforted, somehow, just to know that he was there. After some moments of silence, she smiled. "Inuyasha?" He looked back at her when she leaned forward. "Thank you."
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Later, when they were trying to find a place to set camp before darkness settled over them, they broke into pairs. Sango and Sesshoumaru went with Jaken, Kagome and Inuyasha went with Shippou, and Miroku went with Rin and Kirara.
"How are you, Sango?" The Taiyoukai asked once they had started walking.
"As well as I can get." She replied shortly. "What about you?" He just shrugged. Jaken noticed that Sango was edgy. Soon, the two had found a place and Sango and Jaken were left with it while Sesshoumaru went to find the others.
"M'lady?" The toad was really trying to get to know her. He figured that there must be something about her that drove Sesshoumaru to such a decision. He knew she had strength, honor, loyalty, and a bit of something else; but he was curious about the rest. She turned to look at him.
"What is it?" She asked; raising a brow curiously. She was sitting in the grass, watching the sky darken. He felt a little pressured under her gaze but sat down somewhat next to her. "Jaken?"
"I..." He cleared his throat. "Lady, I was wondering...about our last conversation." She could tell that he was nervous and smiled to try and ease his nerves a little.
"You have a good heart, deep down." She said softly. "To stay with Sesshoumaru as loyally as you do." Her words affected him.
"You love him more than any maiden in his lifetime." He looked over at her. "I can see the way he looks at you."
"The way...he looks at me?" She blinked.
"He is...very attracted to you." His large eyes went to the sky. "I can tell that you two..." He trailed off as he sensed his master approaching. Sango smiled and hugged her legs.
"Jaken?" He turned to her. "Thank you for telling me that."
"It is the truth, M'lady." She stood up and waved to them when they appeared.
"Now that you guys are here, I can go and gather wood for the fire." Her smile cheered them up somewhat. It was better than her gloomy attitude. Rin grinned at her.
"Sango-chan, can we chase fireflies tonight?"
"Sure." The girl squealed with glee. Sesshoumaru stated that he would accompany her. They left right after that. They were silent for the first moments before the Taiyoukai turned to her.
"Jaken has grown fond of you." She stood up from gathering a piece and smiled at him.
"We talked it out. Though, he still has doubts, I'm sure." She spotted another piece and went to retrieve it. He picked up a few pieces before saying anything else.
"Not to mention that Rin is rather attached to you, as well." Sango raised a brow and eyed him quizzically.
"What are you trying to say?" He stepped closer to her until he was right in front of her.
"There is no one else but Naraku against us." He leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead, against the shards. They reacted to the power of her reaction and began to glow. "I will need to travel back to my castle soon. I have not run this information by the others just yet."
"Why do you need to go back?" She asked; her voice growing soft. There was hidden feeling in his statement.
"It is the anniversary of my mother's death. I go to her grave every year on that day." His eyes dimmed. She leaned foreward and kissed his cheek. He blinked.
"I will talk to Inuyasha. You don't have to worry about it." She paused and bit her lip. "How many more days?"
"Five."
"We should start on our way there tomorrow." She looked down at all the wood they gathered. "Let's go back so that I can drag him away before he gets too involved with food."
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"What?" Inuyasha asked when he and Sango were quite far from their little camp. "You wanted something. Spit it out."
"Sesshoumaru told me something...when we were getting wood." She sat down on the small grassy hill that they were on. He plopped down next to her. She looked over at him. "We have to go with him."
"Where?"
"Back to your father's castle. The one that is now Sesshoumaru's."
"Why should we go there?" He asked; crossing his arms and frowning. "It'll slow us down."
"What's more important, Inuyasha?" She asked softly. "Your brother's feelings or Naraku's death?"
"Feelings? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He narrowed his amber eyes at her.
"In five days...it will be the anniversary of the day his mother was killed." She answered. "He wants to go to her grave." His eyes widened before he turned away from her. He hid his expression beneath his silver hair.
"We'll go tomorrow. It can't be too far." She scooted closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"It is not your fault that it happened. You cannot take the blame for what your father did to him." He nodded.
"We worked that out." She felt him lean closer to her. "I know we still have a little bit of that hatred left in us but most of it vanished when we chatted about it."
"To get rid of all of it will take more than five minutes. I cannot really say but I have the feeling that he was really close to his mother. It must have been because she was there when your father was not." He closed his eyes. "Sesshoumaru does have feelings, Inuyasha. Both of you do, no matter how hard you try to hide them. The only heartless bastard around here is Naraku."
"Sango, there's so much to thank you for. None of us really know where to begin." Hearing sentimental things from her hanyou friend was not something that she was used to. But he was opening up to her. He was close to her now that he knew they would eventually be family. At least, that was what she thought it was.
"You do not have to thank me for anything. Just staying with me is thanks enough."
"I should be glad for you staying with me. I know you would have, even if I used the Shikon Jewel to become a full youkai." She laughed and used her other hand to punch his arm.
"Of course I would have. You accepted me after all of those foolish and stupid things I did for Naraku." He chuckled and nodded.
"Even though one was because he told you that I was the one who killed your kin and you didn't know me then. Then the other one was for Kohaku and it didn't do too much damage." She closed her eyes.
"That is completely off of the point, Inuyasha." Her voice trembled and she pulled completely away from him. "I betrayed you...to our worst enemy no less." He sighed.
"That can be one more reason why you loathe him." She looked at him and raised a brow.
"Are you mocking me?"
"No, I'm just saying that you can't be stupid enough to make that seem like your fault."
"Shut up." He laughed and slapped her on the back.
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They got back to the camp and realized that they had talked for a while. Inuyasha looked at his brother and motioned that he wanted to talk to him. Sesshoumaru gave him a suspicious look but followed him off anyway. The two siblings went to the same spot that Sango led the hanyou.
"You got yourself a good woman. Don't do anything to ruin it." The Taiyoukai stared at him. "We had a nice long talk about our past together. She-"
"Do you-" Inuyasha growled at his older brother.
"Shut up and let me talk, will you?" The youkai did not like the tone in the hanyou's voice but let him continue. "She loves you damn well to devotion. She understands that you had hidden feelings when you told her about your mother. She asked me what was more important to me, your feelings or the pursual of Naraku. She knew that you were close to your mother. I relented. We leave tomorrow for your domain." He paused. "We even tied up some loose ends, ourselves. She betrayed me to Naraku once. She's been thinking it was her fault, when it wasn't. Naraku wanted the Tetsusaiga. He obviously thought it as threat enough to bait her with her brother." Sesshoumaru sighed and looked out over the field spread out before them. The flowers bloomed and shone radiantly in the moonlight.
"If I ever get my hands on that hanyou, he will wish he never crossed paths with me."
"Was your main interest in Naraku only for the sake of the girl?" The Taiyoukai looked at Inuyasha.
"Hm?" He thought for a moment. "My original intent was for her, of course. But then...Sango."
"I remember when you two actually first met. It wasn't during any of those little brawls, either. It was when you two actually became one and fought along side each other. It's so easy for her to do that. That was why I wanted her with us. That...and she was so much like me." Sesshoumaru frowned. "I found out about Naraku when we met Miroku. That bastard took my form and wounded Kikyou. He turned us against each other. Sango was much the same way. He took control of her brother and used him to kill her father and comrades while his youkai army took over the village. Mostly nothing was left but a few half-burnt huts. One or two held fast, though." He watched his brother's reaction to the information before sighing. "When we first met her...she accused me of killing her kin. Naraku, the son of a bitch, told her it was my fault. Then he put a jewel shard in her back so she could hold strong with her wounds..."
"Wounds?"
"She's got a massive scar on her back from a sickle... It was her brother who stabbed her in the back. He was under the control of Naraku, even then. The villagers thought the two had gone mad and killed them. After she was buried, she came to and pulled herself out of the ground. She refused to die." Sesshoumaru seemed really interested in the past of his beloved. He wanted to learn more so he remained attentive. "In the end, we figured out that it was all Naraku, down to the last sticky thread of the web he crafted. He's more crafty than we ever gave him credit for. She had lost everything to him. So had I. Kikyou was...really all I ever had. She accepted me and didn't kill me when I came after the jewel. In the end, my connection to the Holder was the fatality..."
"Holder, hm? That priestess...was never really the true Holder." The hanyou looked at his elder brother.
"What do you mean?"
"In a sense, what I learned from Sango about the other one, Midoriko, was that she was its sole creator. That makes only one person the true Holder. Sango is the true Holder of Shikon."
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That's all for this chapter. So, in the end, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha actually get along and we make further progress toward the main goal! Onward we trudge!
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